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Parashat Vayera:  Funny You Should Come for a Visit

We all know that 3 angels came to visit Abraham. Rashi says that one came heal Abraham from his bris milah, his circumcision, and later to save Lot, one came to destroy Sedom, and one came to inform Sarah of her imminent motherhood. Naftali Zvi Yehuda of Berlin, the Netziv, a nineteenth century Lithuanian head of the Voloshin Yeshiva asked, why did G-d need to send angels to save Lot or to destroy Sedom? If Lot merited, then let him be saved directly by G-d. If Sedom merited destruction, let them be destroyed by G-d. Why was there a need for angels?

The Netziv answers that actually Lot did not fully merit to be saved, and Sedom was not yet worthy of destruction. When Lot took in the guests and when the people of Sedom threatened to attack  the strangers, this sealed both of their fates. This, writes the Netziv, is part of a general phenomenon. When a person is basically righteous, G-d helps tilt the scales in their favor. When a person is basically wicked, Hashem helps tilt the scales to see to it that they are punished.

But is this fair? If the person is not guilty, why would G-d try to tilt the scales against them? Perhaps the answer is based on the idea that every mitzvah creates a good angel, every sin a bad angel. When a person continually sins, as did the people of Sedom, they created their own monster. The angel Gabriel came to test them, and, knowing their wicked ways, he came to help them dig their own graves. We can create opportunities, good vibes, start a chain reaction for the good, or we can cause our own problems, make our won enemies and lead to our own destruction.